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Finding Growth in Uncertain Times - A PS Boomerang Story

People are returning to Publicis Sapient for the stability of a consultancy that is continuing to improve year over year, even during the pandemic.

“I left PS to join a startup—and they didn’t really survive the pandemic. I was back in the job market, and PS was one of the first places I thought of because it was a strong brand and I still had a lot of friends and connections here. In that sense it was convenient, but PS was also having one of its best years ever during the pandemic.”

A lot at PS changed while Bilal was away. The business had transformed and underwent the growing pains of refocusing, with a new foundation anchored in Digital Business Transformation, or DBT. That transformation started while Bilal was with PS the first time, and he remembers it well.

“There was a lot of organizational realignment, and sometimes it felt like the organizational structure was literally changing on an annual basis. You’d be reporting to one person, then someone different, and then become part of a different business unit altogether…there was constant flux, and it was a bit of a rocky ride. I think a lot of people struggled with that.”

It has sometimes been a rocky ride, but transformation, especially of this magnitude requires stepping out of our comfort zone. It’s something we tell our clients repeatedly—sitting in the unknown and exploring when you can’t see very far ahead is difficult, but critical to growth. The current stability, and especially our increased impact on the world and our clients, has been worth the journey. And as Bilal can attest, it has propelled us forward and given us distinct advantages.

"I think PS had a head start on a lot of large consultancies because we were one of the first to have the foresight to see the various components of the modern digital ecosystem, and thereby integrate traditional pieces like Customer Experience, Product, Engineering, and Management Consulting into a single connected organization. We had niche players early, as far back as ten years ago, and now everyone is converging towards offering all of the above, whereas we’ve been doing it for years. We had a head start over others who hadn’t invested yet. It set us up for great success, and we were ready when the pandemic fueled an acceleration toward digital."

"I think continued growth and impact looks like a continuation of what we’ve been doing in the way of DBT, outside of the Digital Transformation boom fueled by the pandemic. A lot of other companies in this space did really well during the pandemic too, but we can be an outlier, showing our clients that they can stand out and demonstrate strong, continuous growth on their own in an environment free of external ‘artificial’ factors."

Bilal Zaidi
Bilal Zaidi
Senior Director, Delivery
Bilal is a Senior Director in Publicis Sapient’s Agile Program Management practice, focused primarily on the Retail sector. He oversees the delivery of large Digital Business Transformation programs at our clients, as well as helping clients manage complex Organizational Change Management initiatives.

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